The construction of the Beta Israel identity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2965224 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Abebe Zegeye (0000-0001-6922-0376, University of South Africa, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 589-618 |
| Publication date | 2004-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Identities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1350-4630 • E-ISSN: 1363-0296 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1350463042000294250 |
| OpenAlex | W2046744669 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
Competing narrative discourses still define the early origins of the Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews or black Jews of Ethiopia). A difficulty with reconstructing the past of Judaism in Ethiopia is that written records, though scarce, claim for themselves the 'unquestioned' role of narrating, controlling, containing and policing what can be said about the identities of the Beta Israel. This arrogance of written records is however constantly subverted by the oral sources of the history of the origin of the Beta Israel. The oral sources imply a multiplicity of versions of the same story, and their use in this article suggests that the question of the use of narrative discourse in attempting to name the identities of the Beta Israel in a context of social crisis is a process potentially subject to different interpretations in different historical periods
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Genealogy · Judaism · Literature · Narrative · Sociology · African history and culture analysis · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Gender Studies · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |